WA FFL's and collecting taxes

Active Member

So I'm about to buy my first firearm off of GB and am curious as to how the transfer works. FFL charges their transfer fee but how do they figure the taxable amount? On your honor to correctly report how much was paid or do they require a bill of sale? Hoping to find someone local that can do it for $20-25 and maybe believe me when I say the firearm was gifted to me

Well-Known Member

So I'm about to buy my first firearm off of GB and am curious as to how the transfer works. FFL charges their transfer fee but how do they figure the taxable amount? On your honor to correctly report how much was paid or do they require a bill of sale? Hoping to find someone local that can do it for $20-25 and maybe believe me when I say the firearm was gifted to me

Click to expand...

I doubt you will find a FFL that will do that. The best way is to forget WA and have it sent to OR unless it is a pistol. Good luck.

I think the new guy in Woodland charges $20 for a xfer. I would not pay anymore than that..........

Active Member

In answer to the original question. every FFL I have dealt with (regular shops and kitchen table) in WA has needed to see an invoice from the GB seller, and they have to tax the sales price and the shipping.

Active Member

In answer to the original question. every FFL I have dealt with (regular shops and kitchen table) in WA has needed to see an invoice from the GB seller, and they have to tax the sales price and the shipping.

Well-Known Member

In answer to the original question. every FFL I have dealt with (regular shops and kitchen table) in WA has needed to see an invoice from the GB seller, and they have to tax the sales price and the shipping.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

I received a gun that I purchased from a private person through gunbroker. My FFl (she is a good straight shooter type gal) I told her how much I paid, and she said If there is no receipt, they have a book they have to use. She used the number frim this book, instead of what I said it cost, even though the number was a bit less than what I paid.

I guess that is what happens when she (it was a used gun) graded the gun lower than I did. Worked for me, as I bought it as a shooter not a collectors item anyway.

Well-Known Member

Doesn't really matter, it's the law. And WA FFL's are supposed to have been doing this for years. It's just that most FFL's have been ignoring it. Talk to Mike who used to own Brightwater in Vancouver. Several years ago his books were audited and he had to pay the taxes owed out of his pocket. He did get some back after people found out and voluntarily paid him.
WA state law requires payment of either sales tax or use tax on almost anything brought into the state.

Well-Known Member

what has 'right' got to do with taxation? they'd tax the air we breathe if they could figure out how.I have never bought a gun online because the shippping/fees/taxes always make it a bad deal.imho,ymmv,etc

Well-Known Member

The "use" tax is sales tax. It is sales tax on a retail transaction that did not happen in the state so they have no way to collect it.

They are not two different taxes. They are the same tax with different names. It is the same tax I pay when I purchase something for resale, I do not pay sales tax, I collect sales tax on the final retail sale and submit that to the state. They cannot collect "sales" tax for a retail "sale" that did not occure in the state, so they call it a "use" tax. Been around for businesses forever.

However, if one of those items that was purchased on a wholesale business license, is kept and used by the sales tax exept entity, then the entity would have to pay "use" tax on the item, even though it was never a retail sale.

The "use" tax rate is the same as the sales tax rate where you are. You want a lower tax rate, go to a county with lower sales tax and complete your transaction. That is, never purchase anything in Seattle or King county. OR, purchase FTF.

Well-Known Member

When I bought my last ATV I bough it in OR. When I registered it (ride it where I need tabs) it is based on my address, rate 7.6%. Had I bought locally I would have ended up paying 8.2% in Yakima, or 8.7% in Spokane Valley. Right there is a big difference. On top of that the price of my machine was over $1000 less in OR then the other shops I looked at.

Gold SupporterGold Supporter

I have to plead ignorance. I did not realize that "sales" and "use" were the same thing. I was under the impression that the "use" reate was the same as the state-rate (6.5%) and the added tax (for location) could not be added because the item wasn't sold in WA, and the addition location taxes couldn't be added. Only the state-rate could/would/should be charged because that is the state-rate.

WELCOME!

Northwest Firearms provides a place for gun owners of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho a place to converse,
organize, learn, educate, trade, and most importantly, work together to preserve our Second Amendment rights.

Participation is completely free and registration takes only a few moments.

About Northwest Firearms

We believe the 2nd Amendment is best defended through grass-roots organization, education, and advocacy centered around individual gun owners. It is our mission to encourage, organize, and support these efforts throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.